The Sorcery Club: The Sword in the Pit
by Berrie Salamander
Summary: Albus and Rose's first year at Hogwarts, where they must deal with a strange cult, detention, and the James Potter Fan Club.
1. Train Journey

**I first started writing this pretty much as soon as I finished reading the last Harry Potter book, but that was a few years ago, so it is slightly different from what I first wrote. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to review! I will try to make sure there are no continuity errors. So, here it is – The Sorcery Club! This starts pretty much immediately where the Epilogue left off.**

Rose tugged at Albus' sleeve.

" Come on," she said. " Lets go find a compartment. Maybe James will let us sit with him."

Albus nodded. Most compartments were already full.

" Where do you think James is?" muttered Albus.

" Right here Al."

" James! Can we come sit in your compartment? Everywhere else is full," explained Albus to his brother, who had come up behind them. But James shook his head.

" Sorry Al," sighed James. " But my compartment's full too."

" No way! You just don't want to be embarrassed in front of your friends!" cried Rose.

" No, seriously, it's full," laughed James. " See for your self. We're right next to it."

Albus and Rose looked into the next compartment. It was nearly bursting with giggling, gossiping girls.

" Who are all those girls James?" asked Albus.

" They, Al, are 'the James Potter Fan Club'," replied James proudly.

" What?" exclaimed Rose.

" That's right, Rosie," smiled James. " And if Al pays close attention to what I do over the year, then this time next year he too could have a fan club."

" But I don't want a fan club…" muttered Albus.

" Trust me little brother, you will, one day," said James. With a wide smile, he squeezed past Albus and Rose and into his compartment. Albus rolled his eyes, and he and Rose continued on their quest to find somewhere to sit. Eventually they found a compartment that was occupied by only one person: a nervous looking boy, who seemed to be in the same year as Rose and Albus. The boy looked up at them, his face half obscured by a hoodie he was wearing. With a small sigh, Rosa, slid the door open.

" Excuse me?" she said brightly. " Do you mind if we sit in here?"

The boy shook his head.

" I'm Rose, by the way, Rose Weasley," she added as she slipped into the compartment and sat down. Albus quickly followed suit. " And this is Albus Potter."

" We're cousins," said Albus quietly.

The boy straightened up.

" My name's Charlie Duharmen," he muttered.

" Really? We have an uncle called Charlie," smiled Rose.

They lapsed into an awkward silence.

" How come you're wearing a hood? It's covering your face," piped up Albus. Rose elbowed him in the ribs.

" Al!" she hissed. " That's not polite!"

Charlie laughed weakly. " Don't worry," he shrugged. " I was trying to hide this - "

He took off his hood, exposing his light blue eyes and green hair.

" How come you're hair's _green_?" gasped Rose, forgetting her manners.

" My mum turned it green while she was telling me off for turning my little brother's toy into a… well, I'm not sure what I turned it into to, but it gave him a few injuries. Anyway, my hair won't turn brown again, and none of us are sure what spell she used."

" Spell?" Rose repeated. " So are you from a pure blood family?"

" Half blood," replied Charlie. " My mum's a witch, her name is Marie. But my dad, Tim, is a plumber from Norwich."

Silence returned, and Albus began thinking about the sorting, and Hogwarts in general. He was so far away from home, and there was so much to learn. What if he got lost? What if he couldn't cope? And what if he was sorted into Slytherin…

There silence was interrupted when the compartment door burst open and Scorpius Malfoy swanned in.

" Hello, _Potter,_" he spat. " _Weasley. _And… whoever you are. Ha! You have green hair! What a freak."

Charlie glared at him, and put his hood back over his hair.

" What do you want Scorpio?" asked Albus coolly.

" My name is Scorpius!" he yelled. " And I came to warn you. Our dads were enemies. They may be civil to each other now, but you can't forget the past. You and I will be enemies, rivals. Okay? You will suffer for all things Harry Potter did…"

Charlie stood up and walked over to Scorpius.

" I think you should leave," he snarled.

" I think so too," came a new voice. James was right behind Scorpius. " Slither back to your hole, little Sagittarius,"

" It's Scorpius!" he shouted, but quickly left.

" Right," sighed James. " I'm off. See you later Al. Nice to meet you, Al's friend. Cool hair."

Charlie sat back down.

" So… you're Harry Potter's son?" asked Charlie.

Albus nodded.

" Could you not guess when I introduced us?" asked Rose incredulously.

" Well, Potter's a pretty common name…" muttered Charlie. " But still, that's amazing! I've heard so much about your dad! He's one of my heroes!"

Albus merely blinked.

When the sun was starting to set, the three of them changed into their Hogwarts uniforms. Then, the train came screeching to a halt.

" Oh I'm so nervous!" squealed Rose. " Have I read enough books, have I learnt enough spells?"

" Rose you'll be fine," Albus assured her, but he too was nervous. " Remember – your mum is Hermione."

Rose nodded. " But my dad is Ron." She added.

" Ready to go?" asked Charlie.

" Yes," muttered Rose.

" Then let's go…"

**So, that was the first chapter of The Sorcery Club. Did you like it? I hope so. But if you didn't, I don't mind, everyone has different opinions, so please, let me know what you think! Thanks.**


	2. The New Headmaster

I haven't updated this story in a while, but never mind… I am now! :D Anyway, on with the story…

The New Headmaster

Shakily, Albus descended from the train, emerging on the platform. He took a deep breath to calm himself, taking in the cool night air. Rose and Charlie weren't far behind him. For a moment, they stood stock still, wondering where they were meant to go. The older students were all pushing past them.

"See you at the Sorting Al!" James called as he passed, accompanied by Fred and Alexander Wood. It made him feel even more nervous.

"Where's Hagrid?" Albus muttered.

No sooner had he said it, they heard a voice shouting over the chattering crowd.

"Firs' years this way! Firs' years over here!"

They looked towards the sound of the voice, and saw the huge figure of Hagrid, holding up a lantern.

"All righ' Albus? Rose?" he asked, beaming. "Are all the firs' years with me?" he added to the whole group of them. "Good. Follow me."

Rose nodded determinedly at Albus, and they followed Hagrid down a path, to the lake.

"No more than four to a boat!"

Albus and Rose quickly scrambled into a boat, swiftly followed by Charlie. A girl with straight blond hair also joined them. She was very pale, and had big blue eyes. She didn't look half as nervous as the other three.

"Sophie Parker," she said, smiling at them all. "And you are?"

"Charlie Duharmen," muttered Charlie.

"Rose Weasley," said Rose, smiling weakly.

"Albus Potter."

Sophie's jaw dropped, but she soon closed her mouth again. He was glad of that.

Eventually, the boats came to a stop at the edge of a cove. They got out the boats and made their way up the stone steps. Finally, they arrived at the doors of Hogwarts. The castle looked more magnificent than Albus had imagined. He glanced round at Rose, who was also looking awe-struck. Hagrid knocked on the front door, and it was immediately opened by Professor Longbottom. The sight of another familiar face helped to calm Albus's nerves ever so slightly. Neville smiled at all the new students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," he said, then added: "Please follow me."

They did. Albus barely had time to look at the cavernous Entrance Hall before they were ushered into a small chamber.

"Wait here, and I will be back shortly to lead you into the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into one of the four Houses: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. I'm sure each of you will be a credit to whichever ouseHfggretfHHouse you will be placed in."

He left, leaving them all standing in an awkward silence. Charlie touched his hair nervously.

"Oh, I really don't want the rest of the school to see me like this!" he muttered.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the teachers will be able to sort out your hair," Rose assured him. "It will be fine."

They all looked extremely nervous now. Albus couldn't bare the thought of the whole school watching him being sorted. His hands started to tremble a little bit.

At long last, Professor Longbottom came back.

"We're ready for you now," he said. "Please form a single line."

Albus got in line behind Rose and in front of Charlie. The moment they'd been waiting for was finally here. They left the antechamber, crossed the Entrance Hall, and entered the Great Hall. They walked past the four tables, past all the students staring avidly at them. Albus saw the various members of his family sitting at the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. The thought did not comfort him.

"When your name is called, you will come up to the front and try on the hat," Professor Longbottom explained, indicating the stool and battered hat sitting in front of the Teachers' Table.

The hat sung its usual song about the qualities of the Houses, and the sorting began.

"Archer, Amber!"

A small girl with stringy brown hair walked up to the stool, and placed the hat over her head. There was a long pause. Then –

"SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table burst into applause. Amber took of the hat and hurried away, looking relieved that it was all over.

"Brown, Marie!"

This time a girl with bobbed chestnut brown hair stumbled out of the line. She became the first new Gryffindor. Albus could see his brother and Fred clapping enthusiastically.

The next person on the roll, Eleanor Butler, became the first Hufflepuff. More people stepped forward, until it was the turn of –

"Duharmen, Charles!"

Charlie went bright red. Head bent low, he walked quickly to the stool and sat down. His shoulders were up by his ears, and they didn't relax until the hat was dropped over his hair. The hat didn't take long to decide.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus saw Charlie sigh with relief as he took of the hat and almost ran to the Gryffindor table. The next person, Harvey Edwards, became the first new Ravenclaw. The roll call continued, and many familiar surnames leapt out at Albus.

"Finch-Fletchley, Marion!"

"Finnigan, Benjamin!"

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

Scorpius walked boldly, calmly, up to the hat. When the hat fell over his eyes, it stayed there for quite a while, obviously struggling to decide on the best place for him.

"SLYTHERIN!" it declared after a long wait.

Scorpius grinned as he took off the hat and walked towards the applauding Slytherin table. Albus noticed Rose was glaring at him.

The roll call continued, until it finally arrived at 'P'.

"Paller, Tina!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Parker, Sophie!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The applause for Sophie died down. Albus drew a sharp intake of breath; he knew what was coming.

"Potter, Albus!"

He felt his face go hot. He stumbled towards the stool and the hat, very aware of the whispers following him. After a walk that seemed to last forever, he reached the hat. It fell over his eyes, blocking the school from view. Immediately, the hat began talking in his head.

"Another Potter? Excellent… I remember your father's sorting. Desperate not to be put in Slytherin… does his son share the same view?"

"Yes," Albus thought. "Anywhere but Slytherin. I would get so much stick from my brother - "

"_Your brother only teases you, but he knew I'd put you in – _GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus couldn't believe how relieved he felt. His hands had stopped trembling. The Gryffindor table started clapping and cheering. He hurried over to the table and sat next to Charlie, who was sat opposite his cousin, Dominique.

" Well done," she mouthed as Penelope Radcliffe was called forward.

"Thanks," he mouthed back as Penelope was made a Slytherin.

The line of first years was getting steadily shorter. Soon, it would be Rose's turn.

"Walker, Lynne!" was made a Hufflepuff, and then, at last –

"Weasley, Rose!"

Rose stumbled forwards, her face white, but there was definitely excitement in her eyes as the hat fell over them. Albus held his breath, waiting for the hat's verdict.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus began clapping and cheering with the other Gryffindors as Rose came and sat next to him.

"I'm so glad that's other," she whispered.

He nodded in agreement.

The last person on the roll, Willow Zabini, was put in Slytherin, and the Sorting was over. The headmaster stood up. He looked to be in his late thirties. He had tufts of brown hair, and square glasses.

"Hello, one and all, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" he exclaimed. "My name is Professor Thorn, and I am the new Headmaster, following on from Professor McGonagall's retirement last year. I will give a proper speech later. For now, enjoy the feast."

They all did. Albus helped himself to a bit of everything, all nerves gone completely. The other boys in his year were Charlie, Robin Byram, Mark Cae and William Wyburn. Robin and Mark were Muggle-borns.

"Yeah, it was such a shock when I got my letter, I never knew I could do magic," Robin was saying, when suddenly they heard a small sob a little way down the table. They all looked round. James, who had finished his main course, had moved down the table with Fred and Alexander for a little chat with Victoire.

"Do you think you'll get a love letter from Teddy tomorrow?" James was asking. "Saying how much he misses you already?"

"Stop it James, please," she begged. "You're too young to understand!"

James raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"That girl is beautiful," breathed Charlie, and there was a murmur of agreement from Robin, Mark and Will.

"Don't you think so Albus?" Charlie added.

"Um… that's my cousin," he replied. "Victoire Weasley."

"Oh."

Finally, the meal was over. Professor Thorn gave them a small speech about what was out of bounds and what wasn't. When he had finished, everyone stood up, and the two Gryffindor Prefects lead the first years up the marble staircase, and along the maze of corridors. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room," explained the girl Prefect. "You need a password to get in, and it changes every month. This month's password is – Felixus."

As soon as she said that word, the portrait hole swung open, and the first years followed the Prefects into the welcoming common room. They showed them up to the dormitories, and the boys quickly flopped down onto their beds. Albus hadn't realised up until that point just how tired he was. First thing tomorrow, he would send his parents a letter, telling them he was in Gryffindor. He almost laughed at how relieved he felt. The only worry he had had was safely out the way, and lessons were beckoning. He couldn't wait.


End file.
